A One Hundred Piece Puzzle
by What Doesn't Kill Ya
Summary: One hundred Cloti one shots. 017: The Duty of Siblings They called him Brother...
1. 001: Savings Box

100 Cloti one shots challenge

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001: Savings box

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He dropped a couple more Gil in the box.

He'd taken to going up into the Nibel mountains recently, killing weak monsters, taking Gil and items from them, and searching for materia to use.

Cloud wanted to get stronger so he could protect Tifa, and figured this was the best way to do it.

Save up money so he could get to Midgar, so he could join SOLDIER. Have the materia and the Gil to buy the right equipment to protect her better when he did.

No SOLDIER would let any bridge stop them from protecting someone. Especially one they promised to protect.

He dropped a couple more Gil in the box.

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Thanks for reading, please review, and have a good day!

There is gooing to be 100 of these, and they shall be posted five days a week, on whatever days I don't post a new chapter of another FFVII story I am working on.

P.S. I don't own FFVII.


	2. 002: Lip Gloss

002: Lip Gloss

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Upon arriving in Midgar, Tifa had seen many things for sale in the slums.

Among them, lip gloss.

One of the many things she had learned during her stay, was that you don't wear lip gloss in the slums, if you don't want to be jumped.

Or when you're fighting, as it came off and smudged, becoming a waste of Gil, and that wasn't something you could afford in the slums.

And Tifa didn't need any more people hitting on her than she already did, working at the bar, with her already 'ample size'.

It also meant people were more likely to remember you if you had a bright color on your lips than not, and she didn't need that.

She wore plain clothes for a reason.

So Tifa learned to hate lip gloss while she was in the slums.

And the only person she wanted to impress said she didn't need it anyways, she was beautiful just being herself.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a good day!

If you are confused about when this takes place, it's after Cloud arrives in Midgar.

Sorry about no update yesterday, but I was on a camping trip, and could not post. So instead, you're getting an update on a Sunday! This will not occur regularly, as my usual update/publish schedule is Tuesday through Saturday, once a day.

And that other story, the prologue will be published on Tuesday of this week!

P.S. Does it look like I own FFVII to you?


	3. 003: Photograph

003: Photograph

(Note: Some aspects of this one shot are very much a part of my personal cannon, while others are there for simplicity's sake.)

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Who would have thought that one simple photograph would tear his whole world apart?

Cloud sure didn't.

All it took was Tifa's confirmation, which he did not doubt, that the photo was real, and it came crumbling down.

So he really wasn't in Nebilheim that day… Was he even real in the first place then?

Was he nothing more than a mixture of Mako, Jenova cells, and Tifa's memory?

Nothing more than a Sephiroth copy?

Well, it would explain the VII on his left shoulder, that he always covered up with that pauldron, he thought, still shocked.

He couldn't remember how he got into SOLDIER, and that made him doubt himself even more.

But what about the promise, to always save Tifa when she was in trouble? She had remembered that as well.

Maybe he was Cloud, maybe he wasn't, but there was a Cloud from Nibelheim at some point in time.

The million Gil question, though, was he that Cloud?

And all because of a photograph.

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Thanks for reading, please review, and have a good day!

And I update or publish Tuesday through Saturday, people! Put me on your author alert list and you'll see!

OH! Me and TechnoFire, (As my Cowriter), are going to be writing another Time Travel fic! Only not as serious as _Fell Down A Well _is going to be. It's name?

_The Shinra Prank Wars_, that should tell you right there how serious it's going to be. The earliest you should see it is in a couple of days.

See ya!


	4. 004: Bandages

004: Bandages

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She was in the church with Marlene when she found them.

They were sitting on top of a steel silver box, nearby a bed roll.

There were black and grey stains on the rolls of used up usually white cloth bandages.

Used bandages, almost thrown away. No doubt there were more to be found if Tifa looked for them.

They were probably on that left arm of his that he kept covered up. Covering up the Geostigma there.

That was killing Cloud.

He was running from her, from them all, hiding the fact that he was dying from her, from them.

He was still nursing his fractured psyche, slowly taping it back together, binding it with bandages until it healed.

Cloud didn't want to hurt them, especially her, as he thought he had hurt others, with his eventual death.

That she wasn't going to let happen now that she knew.

But it hurt even more, knowing that.

Sometimes, you need to endure the pain and rip off the bandages. The wounds might scar, and hurt when the weather is right, but occasionally the only way to heal some wounds is to expose them to fresh air.

No more bandages.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a good day!

Tell me, do you like how I do the style of these one shots, where have next to no talking? Or would you rather have some talking? Please let me know!


	5. 005: Oil and Water

005: Oil and Water

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He had spent many a late night out in the medium sized shed out back, working on that bike of his, Fenrir.

She had spent many a day on just her flowers before.

She didn't have to take care of them anymore, now.

Tifa spent most days serving drinks in her bar, and taking care of the children.

They were both running. They just wouldn't admit it.

So there would be days where he would walk into the bar and she'd be covered in sweat and alcohol and **_WATER _**and he'd be covered in blood and dust and **_OIL_**.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a good day!

And thank you for telling me if you wanted talking or not, I shall try to have more of that in the ones I have not written yet.


	6. 006: Traveling Abroad

006: Traveling abroad

It was 12:30 at night when I wrote this.

Beware.

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Cloud was looking at the Northern Crater, thinking.

Now, this is not something any Cloud should do regularly, when their only purpose is being sky high and bringing the rain, so naturally, Tifa had to see what her Cloud was thinking about.

She decided to be blunt about it, her own special brand of caring.

"What are you thinking about, Cloud?"

He didn't speak for a bit, but when he did, he said "About how far we've gone, how much we've seen, been, _learned,_"

"And we've done a fair bit of that, haven't we?"

Cloud flinched when she said 'fair', but said anyways, "Yes we have,"

They both stood there in silence for a while each lost in their own thoughts of silver and fire and _death._

They thought of flowers and swords, of those who should have died, of those shouldn't have, and of those who couldn't stay dead, dang it all.  
They had traveled Gaia together, searching for something or other.

But in the end, the two of them realized that all they really needed was each other.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a good day!

And here is talking for those who wanted it!

I shall update something other than this when I have something finished for them.

See ya!


	7. 007: A group of shootingfalling stars

007: A group of shooting stars/falling stars *

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He felt like the stars, moon, and sun were going to fall from the sky and leave them all in everlasting darkness.

Aerith…

Cloud was sitting outside the pool where she was laid to rest forever, thinking.

About what he could have done, Sephiroth's words, their chase of him, Jenova's words, Holy, Meteor…

Footsteps disturbed him from his thoughts.

"It's not a good thing to be brooding, Cloud,"

Tifa came and sat next to him, watching the stars, tears in both of their eyes, her sad tone belittling her words.

They sat together in silence for a while, trying not to think but thinking anyways.

Finally, Cloud said "Could I have done something different?"

"That's what we're all asking ourselves, Cloud," Tifa whispered.

And the tears in their eyes blurred the stars and moon in the night sky above them, to make it seem as if the stars really were truly falling to the earth.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

And I have reached quadruple numbers! 1000 veiws! That means a double update! The next time that I will double update is when this story reaches 10000, or when any other updating story reaches 1000!


	8. 008: Ball Game

008: Ball game *  
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He'd woken up from the Mako induced coma, Tifa had helped heal and retrieve his scattered memories and personality.

He could properly mourn the death of his best friend, and his best friend's former girl friend, (For that was the safest way to put it, he was still confused on whose feelings were whose).

He was no longer tripping over his own feet with guilt from all the things that he had done, or others to him.

He still hated Hojo, however.

He was no blank puppet without emotion, no longer controlled by Sephiroth or Jenova.

He had told AVALANCHE the truth that he could remember, and they still wanted him as their leader, faults and all.

He knew that he could beat Sephiroth now, in a fair fight.

It was a whole new ball game for Cloud.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

And this is the double update! Hope you enjoyed it!


	9. 009: King

009: King *

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He was king of all his pieces, even as one defied him.

He was the King, and the one who resisted but a pawn, uncertain of his colors.

He had Jenova as his queen, who could go anywhere, and his copies as his pawns.

The parts of Jenova were already taken by the other side, the white pieces.

He had thought the Cetra their king, taking her out of play, expecting them to all give up without her. Turns out she was their queen, not king.

The man with the gun arm and the pilot were the bishops, moving diagonally, living in similar but different ways with similar but different views from the rest of the world.

The teenage ninja and the red feline were the rooks, only being able to see what was right in front of them. Having to be forced to see the truth of the world by having it pushed straight in front of them, being told straight the only way for them to acknowledge it.

The bartender and the sharpshooter were the knights, existing in strange and unusual ways. Both thought to have been dead at one time, they have come back with a vengeance.

The cat robot is but another pawn, controlled by someone else.

The confused pawn has served its purpose, giving him the power to put the whole world in checkmate, that there was nothing they could do to stop him, (He would like to think).

The pawn has finally decided his true colors now, and look at that.

He's gone so far, and broken his control.  
He's reached the other side, and has survived.

The pawn has become a queen.

And now that he thinks about it, he realizes that, the planet herself is the king they're guarding.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

This is not my favorite one, but it is still good in my book. My favorites are #7 and #1 right now of what I have published. Which one is your's so far? And I may not be able to update tomorrow, or sunday, so you might get the next one on monday. I was planning on releasing a new story today, but felt too tired. You'll most likely get it tuesday now.


	10. 010: Burn

010: Burn *

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The whole world was on fire to him, in many different ways.

The fire of Nibelheim, forever burning in his memories.

The burning pain that he failed Tifa, in being too late to save her, breaking their promise.

The searing of the mako he was encased in in this glass tube on his physical body.

The fire of the lifestream in his mind, burning away his memories and who he really was with their collective unity.

The scorching of Hojo's eyes on him, burning him like a piece of meat.

The blaze that was guilt for getting the only guy he could call a best friend in trouble with him.

Cloud's whole existence was burning, and he needed no fire Materia to do it.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

And I missed another Saturday, so you are getting a rare Sunday update!

And there is a chapter 7 if you missed it on Thursday, 8/2/2012. There were two updates that day.


	11. 011: Trouble Maker

011: Trouble maker *

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Yuffie really was quite the trouble maker, stealing their Materia and forcing them to follow her to Wutai to get it back.

Otherwise, though, Wutai was a beautiful place.

All red and gold, wonderful sloping roofs, wooden houses and shrines, little streams running through it.

That was the outside appearance of Wutai, all elegance and beauty.

The reality was they were a fierce fighting people, who had been beaten down so hard, there was barely anyone left like that in Wutai anymore.

Yuffie may have been a trouble maker, but she was their trouble maker dang it all, and they weren't not going to beat her down some, but they weren't going to do it so that she lost her fighting spirit.

She was their trouble maker, and that's all there is to it.

Now, if they can only find her in this place…

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

And do you want me to publish and or update something else? Or do you want me to update this story still? Let me know please! Your reviews count!


	12. 012:Bracelet

012: Bracelet *

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It was a simple gift, wasn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but it was most definitely sturdy and useful.

It was Tifa's birthday gift, from Cloud.

All silver, shining brilliantly, with two wolves wrapped around each other, etched on the surface.

Two linked Materia slots, and one slot alone.

Cloud had made it for her, all by himself.

Tifa thought it a wonderful gift, and said as much.

"Oh, thank you Cloud, it's wonderful!"

Said swordsman blushed, and mumbled a quick "You welcome," before quickly giving her the next present, from Barret this time.

In the years to come, Tifa would wear the bracelet on her wrist at all times, with an enemy skill and a CURE, both linked to ALLs on it, along with a time Materia in the last slot.

When Cloud eventually married her, (He did get around to asking her at some point in time, it went like this; "Of course I'll marry you! You're not dilliy-dalling around any longer, you hear?") Tifa wore it with her wedding dress.

She wore it while together they raised five children of their own, along with Marlene and Denzel. It was used quite a bit to heal small and large bumps and scratches.

When on her death bed, she gave it to Marlene, with the promise "Never forget what you have seen, Marlene. Tell the world our story,"

And Marlene did.

All of this from a simple silver bracelet.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

I won't be updating this every day, as I have other fanfics to update and work on. Thank you for your time and understanding. I should be updating every other one of my updating days.


	13. 013: Kiss

013: Kiss *

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It was just a random morning, when she did it.

It was innocent, on his lips, just a quick peck, and they both acted like it was normal for almost exactly three seconds after the fact before they realized what had just happened.

Tifa dropped the glass she was cleaning, a very red blush coming onto her cheeks, turned around and mumbled something that even Cloud couldn't hear.

Cloud just stood frozen for a second; hastily saying "I'll see you when I get back from the deliveries, Tifa," and pretty much ran out of the bar's back door to Fenrir.

He wasn't sure how to handle it either, obviously.

Marlene and Denzel just stared on in shock, with Marlene letting a slow smile come onto her face.

Cloud didn't come back for three days, but…

Well, Marlene and Denzel suddenly became less coordinated and tripped and shoved quite a bit in the mornings Cloud was around.

Slowly, it became tradition.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

I really like this one, to say the least.

And me updating today just made yesterdays AN a moot point, didn't it?

I had tech trouble, and planned on updating SPW, but you'll get that tomorrow, 8/11/2012.


	14. 014: Materia

014: Materia *

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Now, which Materia should she choose?

That was the question in Tifa's mind, as they prepared to fight Sephiroth for the final time.

Since they didn't know what tricks he would pull up out of the bag for them this time around, she better grab a CURE Materia, to heal herself, for she was already wearing Ribbon, and link that with an ALL in her bangle.

She also put COMET on her bangle, along with SHIVA, with COMET linked to a HP absorb.

On her gloves Tifa put an enemy skill linked with an all, and CHOCOMOG linked with an elemental.

On her armor, she put a speed plus, with ODIN linked to a MP absorb, and W-Summon.

That was what Tifa did with the Materia she picked.

Cloud had linked an All with an enemy skill on his bangle, with ALEXANDER linked to added cut.

He had a double cut on his sword, along with BAHAMUT ZERO linked with a MP absorb, and PHEONIX linked to an elemental.

Cloud also had on his armor a CONTAIN, and ULTIMA, along with cover, and HP plus.

That was what Cloud did to prepare for the final showdown with Sephiroth.

Yuffie somehow ended up with LEVIATHON, an enemy skill, steal as well and an ALL…

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

And sorry, you'll get SPW on Tuesday, because of me having to finish the next chapter.

This one is... Sorta crazy, don't you think?

Also, the setup here is random, as in, I picked what I thought sounded reasonable.


	15. 015: One Step Closer Part One

015: One Step Closer

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Part One

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Each time he took one more step away from her, she wasn't sure if he would come back, and she always wanted to follow him away, wanted to be one step closer to him when he always left.

Because he always did leave, it seemed to her.

He took one step closer but three steps back when he saved her from being lost and dying in the Nibel Mountains because of that rickety old bridge.

Yet another step closer, but a billion away when he promised to her the night before he left for Shinra, that he would be her hero.

He left the next morning, traveling so far away from Nibelheim, like she wanted to.

She wanted to be one step closer to him every time she went up into the mountains, but she only ever got more lonely every time.

It made her a good guide, however.

When the SOLDIERs came to town, she didn't know it, but he was oh so close.

She wouldn't realize that for almost five and a half years.

She unknowingly took one step closer to him when she tried to follow the SOLDIERs into the reactor, him blocking her way, shaking his head, telling her no, you can go no farther.

Because she was as close as she was going to get to him.

When she finally got away from Nibelheim, he was left behind, and not of her own choice.

When she search for where he had gone, they told her that he would always remain one step ahead of her, in death, until the day that she died.

She foolishly believed them.

She also believed that the lifestream contained the souls of the dead, and that Shinra was killing the souls of the dead to turn on their light bulbs.

This, she was not foolish to believe in, for it was true.

She was ready to give her all to end the abuse of the lifestream by Shinra and the people who used it to see in the dark.

However, her reasoning behind why she was so willing to fight Shinra, to defend the lifestream, was flawed, for he was not there.

Instead, he was in Nibelheim, tottering about the line of life and death, not even being able to stand on his own two feet at times, helped by another to walk.

Of course, she did not know.

His friend helped him escape that place, helping him take a million steps towards Midgar, and her, unknowingly.

His friend was searching for a flower girl, who lived in Midgar. He'd promised that he would return to her.

He never would, dying on the cliffs, never seeing how many steps closer to Midgar he was.

His dead friend left his legacy of a sword, dreams, and honor in his hands.

His dead friend was forgotten in return.

And so he walked the rest of the steps to Midgar alone, when they should have been walked with another, and he was unknowingly stepping closer to her, while his mind ran away from everything.

She found him in the train station, just sitting there.

She thought she took one step closer to him, when he could have never have been more far away.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day.

Yes, this is a part one, you'll get part two eventuly, I don't know when.

I know I said that you would get SPW today, but I am having trouble writting the prank part. You'll probably get it tommorow.

This is also quite long, isn't it?


	16. 016: Hypnosis

016: Hypnosis *

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Hypnosis. That's what it is, Tifa convinced herself, after watching the events at the Northern Crater take place.

Cloud wouldn't do that of his own free will, would he?

No, of course not, she hastily thought.

Sephiroth had to be controlling him, because if he wasn't, she wouldn't know what she'd do.

So, in her mind, it had to be hypnosis for her to be sane.

She thought it had to be hypnosis that he was under.

When all she was really doing was hypnotizing herself.

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Thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day!

This is one of the shorter ones, isn't it?

And sorry I've been gone so long, I had a sudden fandom shift into Legend of Zelda, but I will be back soon.

Also, I have a poll up on my profile! Check it out please!

And do you guys want me to put up part two to # 015 when I'm done with it?


	17. 017: The Duty of Siblings

017: The Duty of Siblings *

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They called him Brother…

And Cloud didn't like it one bit.

He didn't want to be their brother, because that would mean that he was still connected to Sephiroth, and he most certainly did not want that.

And it would also mean that he now had siblings, which he had never had before, and had no idea what to do with.

He had spent his childhood up in the mountains, fanboying over Tifa and Sephiroth, not paying attention to how siblings interacted with each other.

In short, Cloud didn't know how to be a brother.

A friend, a lover, a rival, a hero, the list goes on and on of things he did know how to be.

But he never knew how to be a brother, much less an older one.

And so he failed in that sense, he told himself latter, failed in that duty of being an older sibling, to his now dead younger brothers.

He wondered if he would get to try again, after he died as well…

*#*

I've been gone so long...

This one is really weird for me...

Don't feel like saying much here except for Junior year of high school, computer complications, and rapid fandom jumping.

Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day!


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